Hephaestus

[Grey&Golden]

I'm hoping to perhaps get some advice here. For the last couple of weeks, I've been really feeling like Hephaestus is trying to get my attention. Well, to be honest, he's definitely got it, since it seems like he's demanding my attention in a very aggressive manner. This completely took me off-guard as ever since I started believing in the gods (around 12 years ago), not once have I ever felt any connection to Hephaestus nor felt his presence. So it's very shocking to me that he'd come out like this to grab my attention.

I'm a bit hesitant on how I should approach this honestly. I've been a devoted follower to Artemis all this time, she is my patron deity in that sense, she's the one I've always felt the deepest presence with and I feel I have a good sense by now of my relationship with her. I've always known that Artemis had quite a bit of  possessiveness when it came to our relationship, so I'm a bit nervous about opening up and exploring what Hephaestus might be trying to call on me for, as Artemis is not one I want to offend, she's always been rather stern with me.

So couple questions.. If any of you have had any experience with Hephaestus, what was the nature of your experiences? Do you have any advice on how to approach him? Have any of you had experience with a god trying to get your attention in an aggressive and demanding way? This aggressiveness isn't scaring me away nor do I feel that it's malevolent in any way, he's just coming across very strong and I'm at a bit of a loss how to open communication..

[Heliocoptero]

So couple questions.. If any of you have had any experience with Hephaestus, what was the nature of your experiences? Do you have any advice on how to approach him? Have any of you had experience with a god trying to get your attention in an aggressive and demanding way? This aggressiveness isn't scaring me away nor do I feel that it's malevolent in any way, he's just coming across very strong and I'm at a bit of a loss how to open communication..

I have a soft spot for Him, though my contact with Hephaestus is limited. If He's being very assertive, I'd probably consider if there's something in your life that requires urgent action. A job, work, a physical problem? If there's nothing you can think of, maybe you should resort to some form of divination, even a modern oracle (e.g. Sannion's oracular sessions), in an attempt to discern the god's intentions.

[RandallS]

If there's nothing you can think of, maybe you should resort to some form of divination, even a modern oracle (e.g. Sannion's oracular sessions), in an attempt to discern the god's intentions.

I second this idea.

[Grey&Golden]

I have a soft spot for Him, though my contact with Hephaestus is limited. If He's being very assertive, I'd probably consider if there's something in your life that requires urgent action. A job, work, a physical problem? If there's nothing you can think of, maybe you should resort to some form of divination, even a modern oracle (e.g. Sannion's oracular sessions), in an attempt to discern the god's intentions.

 
Thank you for your response! I confess that I'm not too knowledgeable about divination, it's always been a subject that I've shied away from due to feeling like I wouldn't be able to trust my own interpretation. The only type I looked into was Tarot (I had gotten a Greek version to try to keep it related to my beliefs) but I was overwhelmed by it. Is there any simple forms of divination that you could recommend? Not being familiar with Sannion I did a search and these sessions are done by someone else I gathered? I wouldn't be too comfortable with that honestly. The way that I usually communicate with the gods is simple meditation where I try to open myself in a blank slate and try to "hear them" so to speak. It's always been simple in regards to Artemis (probably due to so many years building the relationship), so I guess I'm a bit thrown when a god I've never had experience with suddenly wants to communicate, I think it's usually the best way for me but will take some patience on my part since I'm so used to "getting it" quickly.

Actually, something clicked when you asked about whether or not there was something going on for me physically. I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't connect it right away honestly. I've been struggling to deal with a disorder I have and pursuing disability/government aid for it. The disorder has been starting to disable me severely after suffering with it for so long, and pursuing applying for aid is proving very difficult. The doctors I've been seeing for diagnosis and help have been walking all over me and being incredibly rude and offensive. This past appointment I had left me almost in tears and I've been feeling incredibly helpless, unassertive and just stomped upon, I'm getting hopeless about it.

Given Hephaestus' experience with being crippled and rejected himself in his mythology, I'm honestly really embarrassed I hadn't put two and two together.:ashamed: I've been blocking this issue out of my mind every time I return from an appointment and wanting to just forget about it to avoid frustrating myself. I wonder if that is probably why he's trying to get my attention, if he wants to aid some way. I hope I don't come across as a dolt for not thinking of this before I posted. I still think I need to open communication better though, as it's very hard to "hear him" and discover his intentions as I can with some other gods.

[Nyktipolos]

Not being familiar with Sannion I did a search and these sessions are done by someone else I gathered?

 
No, they are done by him. In the past I believe he has had his partner Dver transcribe what he has been told on occasion, but he does it almost entirely on his own.

An oracle is a person who acts as an intercessor between people and the gods; he directly contacts Dionysos (I am unsure if other gods show up, and it's possible they do, but generally it is just Dionysos), asks him questions, the god (usually) responds, and then afterwards Sannion relates the message back to the person asking the question.

[Heliocoptero]

Given Hephaestus' experience with being crippled and rejected himself in his mythology, I'm honestly really embarrassed I hadn't put two and two together.:ashamed: I've been blocking this issue out of my mind every time I return from an appointment and wanting to just forget about it to avoid frustrating myself. I wonder if that is probably why he's trying to get my attention, if he wants to aid some way. I hope I don't come across as a dolt for not thinking of this before I posted. I still think I need to open communication better though, as it's very hard to "hear him" and discover his intentions as I can with some other gods.

Sounds like you found your answer From my experience, Gods sometimes pass you around, so to speak, when a specific problem can be best addressed by a deity who's into the subject. A disability is something Hephaestus could probably help out more than Artemis, so I wouldn't be surprised if She enlisted the Smith's aid. My advice would be for you to face your problem to the best of your ability and with as much meditation and prayer as you find necessary. Not to cure your disability per se, but to give you all the strengh you need to deal with it.

And don't worry about not having put two and two together: no one's perfect and that's what advice is for - to help you go through things in case you missed something

All the best!

[Grey&Golden]

No, they are done by him. In the past I believe he has had his partner Dver transcribe what he has been told on occasion, but he does it almost entirely on his own.

An oracle is a person who acts as an intercessor between people and the gods; he directly contacts Dionysos (I am unsure if other gods show up, and it's possible they do, but generally it is just Dionysos), asks him questions, the god (usually) responds, and then afterwards Sannion relates the message back to the person asking the question.

Ah, okay. That's pretty interesting, has anyone here ever enlisted his help? I knew what an oracle was, but I wasn't aware that there were many people doing so in today's age.
 

Sounds like you found your answer From my experience, Gods sometimes pass you around, so to speak, when a specific problem can be best addressed by a deity who's into the subject. A disability is something Hephaestus could probably help out more than Artemis, so I wouldn't be surprised if She enlisted the Smith's aid. My advice would be for you to face your problem to the best of your ability and with as much meditation and prayer as you find necessary. Not to cure your disability per se, but to give you all the strengh you need to deal with it.

And don't worry about not having put two and two together: no one's perfect and that's what advice is for - to help you go through things in case you missed something

All the best!

 
After meditating a bit and thinking more, I think this might be it. And that does make a lot of sense about another deity stepping in to help with something that's up their alley. It's just surprising to feel that I got sought out by him instead of going to him for help myself, it's a quite humbling feeling. I'm definitely going to be doing a lot of meditation and prayer for this. I think he's a very appropriate god to get help from, I often had the impression that he was a very strong and practical god who handled troubles head-on, and I could use a tad of that type of strength at the moment..

Thanks so much for your help, Heliocoptero. Talking it out helped a lot.

[drekfletch]

It's just surprising to feel that I got sought out by him instead of going to him for help myself,

 
One thing to consider is that the gods are great at disguising themselves.  Artemis may have asked Him to give you a hand, and then 'used his voice" to get your attention.

And since nobody has mentioned it, I'll state what I feel to be an obvious fact.  If you're not sure about seeing a god other than Artemis, you could always ask Her about it.

[Grey&Golden]

One thing to consider is that the gods are great at disguising themselves.  Artemis may have asked Him to give you a hand, and then 'used his voice" to get your attention.

And since nobody has mentioned it, I'll state what I feel to be an obvious fact.  If you're not sure about seeing a god other than Artemis, you could always ask Her about it.

Thanks much for your comment. The internal feeling I'm getting in regards to Artemis is that it's acceptable for me to explore and accept help from the other gods, as long as she comes first in my thoughts and worship still. I'm devoted to Her (little "d", I didn't do what I would consider the official devotion yet, because it involves some sacrifices that I need to make sure I'm ready to do, but I will when it feels right), and She's invested a lot of her personal help with me, so abandoning Her or paying too much attention to another god wouldn't be good. It's just my feeling here, but that's the strict feeling I'm getting from Her. I feel perhaps that Artemis is watching over this, just enlisting His help as an aid.

This is just what I'm coming away with at the moment through meditation.